Revealed:Amazing and useful secrets from 10 successful bloggers 1

New and existing bloggers can learn one lesson or the other from these 8 successful bloggers as they shared their money making tactics, how they grow their traffic, advice for the upcoming bloggers and much more.

1. Lisa Sicard From Inspire to Thrive ($400/mo)

Hello! What’s your background, and what is your blog about?

I’m Lisa Sicard, and I founded Inspire To Thrive.

For background, I started at a weekly newspaper as a teenager typing ads.

What motivated you to get started with the blog?

I began in content marketing over 6 years ago after I had retail online store for medical scrubs. At that time I was also a digital sales rep for a daily newspaper.

Everything began to come together when I made my largest sales order via Twitter. I then began to take social media and blogging seriously. I then started to help others to do the same for their online businesses. I even gave Twitter lessons to the newsroom at the newspaper.

People would call me or email questions all the time so I figured I’d answer them all in blog posts. It saved me time back then and helped others learn from all of my own mistakes.

What is the revenue model for the blog?

I now make money via content marketing through several channels. I write posts for other websites and blogs. I do sponsored posts on my own blog. I do social share packages for others.

Making money via content marketing takes on many forms as another of mine is via my eBook. I also build social media sites, Facebook Pages and Twitter profiles for others too.

What are some strategies you have used to increase the blog’s traffic?

Building traffic takes time. People need to have patience for it too. You must know the basics of SEO before blogging.  Get down the basics and then start promoting.

I didn’t realize and many others don’t know that you need to spend 80% of your time promoting and 20% of your time generating new content. Most bloggers start out doing the opposite.

I use social media, the big 3 – Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook along with a few other “Communities”.

How have you grown your email list?

This is one area I haven’t done as well as I would like. I had gained some traction with the Hello Bar for a while but it dwindled after time.

I’ve built my email list over the years by giving away a free eBook for several of them. I then started to send out an email weekly with updates on the industry and any new posts.

I try to also mention others in my emails and not keep it all about me or my blog.

How you write great content that performs well?

I do a lot of research. If someone questions something on a post I usually turn it into another post.

Find out what people need to learn about and do. Read their tweets, posts, etc.

Keep your posts simple and mix up your media. Use images, slideshares, video, quotes, etc to mix it up throughout your posts.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome with your blog? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

Time is my biggest challenge as I work a 9-5 job too. I take advantage of early mornings or weekends. If I get time for lunch during the day I’ll break out my laptop and get a few things done. My mobile phone is invaluable.

If I could do it again – I would have written better content from the get-go. I was more concerned about more content not quality content. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.

I also would not have accepted all paid sponsorship, I would have vetted a few more better than I did. It’s our name that is associated with them so we better believe in what we recommend.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Other bloggers. I’ve learned a lot from other bloggers and I recommend you find your mentors. I have several. Donna Merrill and Ryan Biddulph are two I’ve followed for years. I‘ve learned so much invaluable info from them. Take some courses too.

What’s your advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

I would recommend they start off with WordPress via a self hosted blog. Publish at least 5 posts before sending out links and such.

Do not add a lot of ads or things to sell in your sidebar, keep it clean and simple. Be active on social media and comment on other blogs in your niche. Try to be consistent through time.

I would recommend if they are starting out to follow a few mentors and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Read also: The secret of 10 successful bloggers part 2

 

2. Lidiya K. from Let’s Reach Success ($500/mo)

Hello! What’s your background, and what is your blog about?

Hey there! I’m Lidiya, writer and lifestyle designer. I’m Bulgarian, turned my passion into my career, became location independent, moved to my favorite destination (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and am constantly trying to improve myself and make a statement with my words, actions and business.

What motivated you to get started with the blog?

Back when I started the blog, I had no actual direction, but I knew it was worth it. Usually, it always is, it’s just that people give up early on before a site has the chance to grow. I came up with the idea after defining my passion (personal development) and combining it with my most favorite thing (writing). I knew I had to write about it and see where it takes me. It felt good from the first article I published, and to this day I enjoy creating content around that field and sharing it with the world.

What is the revenue model for the blog?

The revenue model for a site depends on the goals of the owner, the audience and what they like, and on many other factors. It’s worth exploring different monetization methods to see what works best for you. But the point is to always provide value to the reader. When you have a solid offer and it’s presented in the right way, they’ll gladly pay for it.

What are some strategies you have used to increase the blog’s traffic?

SEO is a big factor. Eventually, I realized that even the best content can’t be found if it’s not optimized for search engines, so I understood how Google works and started playing by its rules. I never paid for ads, but I do trust long-form and naturally optimized content to perform well over time.

How have you grown your email list?

I offer a free newsletter and there are around 1000 subscribers on it. I don’t use pop-ups, but let users submit their email if they feel like.

How do you write great content that performs well?

I write about a new topic when I have enough to say about it. Sometimes, I do basic keyword research, grab a term, and create a detailed guide on it with a ton of practical stuff. That’s valuable and ranks well over time.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome with your blog? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

My challenges in the beginning were the tech side of things, but there’s enough information out there and tutorials explaining anything necessary. Now I enjoy reading about advanced SEO tactics or joining a new platform where I can build a new audience and bring more attention to my site.

There’s nothing I’d do differently if I had to start over. It’s exactly how it was supposed to be.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Whatever your niche is, you need to be reading and consuming information all the time. There’s a ton of stuff, and they are all important. How you combine them, though, and how you use your own talents and skills, is crucial.

3. Justin Germino from DragonBlogger ($600/mo)

Hello! What’s your background, and what is your blog about?

My name is Justin Germino, and I started my blogging journey in 2008 as a way of sharing my love for tech, gadgets, and games while supplementing my day job.

What motivated you to get started with the blog?

Originally, I needed to bring in more income since I was working a full-time job, had two young kids, and I didn’t want to spend more time away from family than I had to; I wanted something that I could do from home.

What is the revenue model for the blog?

The primary revenue model is an Amazon affiliate, Google AdSense, along with a few other affiliate programs through ShareASale. I share personal opinions about different products, offer coupons and earn income through affiliate when somebody clicks and buys something.

What are some strategies you have used for building up the traffic?

First, I make sure to use keyword tools to target high-search traffic patterns. After publishing the post, I share it on social, as well as other industry forums. Since I work with many brands and I write about them, they’ll promote my content on their own which gives nice spikes of traffic.

How have you grown your email list?

Though my mailing list was slow to grow at first, I started partnering with bigger brands to do product giveaways, greatly expanding my mailing by over 10,000 emails in a year, currently standing at nearly 34,000 in my email list.

How you write great content that performs well?

In my field, writing how-to articles that solve problems or covering niche items that haven’t been released yet tend to drive the most traffic.

When writing about products/news/technology/video games, there will often be spikes when something is brand new, so making entertainment-related content that answers questions are critical because people may have questions about those things for years to come.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome with your blog? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

Using the name “DragonBlogger” was a terrible idea in the long run. When I started, blogging was the cool thing to do, but today, the term “blogger” in the site’s title can hurt my professionalism with big brands who think the site’s name makes it sound unprofessional and unrelated to technology. If I could do it all again, I would have researched a better site name and profile to match the niche.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

As far as learning, look at how others in your niche are doing things and try to find your own voice— What makes you different,? Why should someone should visit your site, read your article, or get your recommendation over someone else doing the same thing? However, don’t see yourself as a competitor, rather an alternative point of view. I find it is best to partner where I can rather than see any other tech bloggers as competitors.

What’s your advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

Don’t use a free blogging platform; use a self-hosted site like WordPress to allow more flexibility in plugins and advertising. Brands wouldn’t work with my sites if they weren’t self-hosted through WordPress.

Read also: One Extraordinary Approach To Profit Online 2018

 

4. Flavia Andrews from Neat House. Sweet Home ($1,500/mo)

I started the business when online marketplaces were taking off, and I was able to use that as leverage to grow my business in less than 2 years. This led me to start my first blog in order to promote my products and interact with customers at a much personal level.

What motivated you to get started with the blog?

The idea of writing Neat House. Sweet Home™ dawned on me when my son started to attend preschool. I realized that if I did not start an organization system for all those first drawings he proudly brought home, I was going to lose my mind watching them pile up quickly on my kitchen counter.

What is the revenue model for the blog?

I am currently earning money through affiliate marketing, sponsored content, ads, and direct sales of my products and services.

I started monetizing my blog since the very first day I published my first post. I had no experience in the area, but I knew of bloggers making money through Google AdSense and I jumped in and placed a few codes on my pages myself.

What are some strategies you have used for building up the traffic?

I received initial traffic by promoting a free printable resource. Once I saw how this was a great way to attract readers, I created several more printables designed along the same lines, that complemented each other.

How have you grown your email list?

I decided to make one of those printables a sign up incentive and, to this date, it’s my best performing lead magnet to capture email addresses. In order to do this, I moved my then small list to ConvertKit, a leading email marketing platform for bloggers.

How you write great content that performs well?

My best content comes from my daily grind. Since my main focus is homemaking and time management at home, I face all kind of challenging situations daily.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome with your blog? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

If I could start over, I would dedicate all my time and focus all of my efforts in creating a good amount of content first. In my first year blogging, I was too hung up on the little details such as adding widgets to my sidebar, applying to affiliates programs, placing banners, and watching my social media numbers.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

The first book I read on blogging was How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul, by Ruth Soukup. It gave me the foundation to think of my blog as a business. I didn’t see the potential that was hiding beneath what I thought was just my humble opinion put into a blog post. This book opened my eyes, and showed me that behind every blog, there’s an entrepreneur.

What’s your advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

My advice to those who want to start a blog is simple: Start by creating great content, great content brings traffic, and traffic brings income. There’s no other way around it.

 

5. Julie X from Millennial Boss ($2,000/mo)

Hello! What’s your background, and what is your blog about?

Hi! I’m J. Last year I paid off $89,000 of debt and started my journey to financial independence. I hope to retire in my early 30s and have already saved $200,000 towards my goal at 28 years old.

What motivated you to get started with the blog?

This impetus for my current blog, Millennial Boss, was that I was a new manager in my twenties and wanted to share my challenges and lessons about managing a team. The blog has since evolved in that I journaled my student loan debt payoff, my travel hacking successes, and now my journey to financial independence.

What is the revenue model for the blog?

I make money in the following ways:

• Display advertising through Mediavine
• Affiliate marketing from various products I promote (products that are mostly free to readers)
• Sponsored posts
• Sponsored podcast ad spots

How have you grown your email list? 

I have 1,200 readers and I didn’t send emails until recently. Many bloggers feel that email is a good way to drive affiliate sales, but I haven’t seen that yet. I mostly enjoy sending emails to my email list for Fire Drill podcast because the community feels more personal. I have 250 people on that list and get higher engagement than Millennial Boss.

How you write great content that performs well?

Solve a problem for a reader and go into painstaking detail and write a 2,000+ word post. Then, take the time to share the crap out of the article. Eventually, Google will pick it up and it will start bringing you organic traffic for years. Make sure that you break up the post into sections with h2 headers that are common queries people type into Google about that subject. Name images with the same queries.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome with your blog? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

I would recommend bloggers with day jobs stay anonymous and not use pictures of themselves. I went viral on Reddit and had coworkers find out about my personal finance and career blog which you can imagine was no well-received, particularly since I talked about salary negotiation strategies, etc.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Spend your time doing mostly what you don’t want to do but know it will grow your blog and reward yourself with a little big of time doing what you like to do, but you know it won’t grow your blog as much.

What’s your advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

Don’t be too should-shy. You can tell when a new blogger is starting out because they have a lot of “you should” statements. Readers will follow your recommendation when you have credibility and you inspire them, not because you say they should do something.

Thank you very much for your time feel free to drop your comment in case any.

This interview is carried out by Siimon Sander of blogprofits